


Tasty

by Aki_Saiko (saikowrites)



Series: Writober 2019 [25]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akira cooks curry, Domestic, Fluff, Improper Hegel quoting, Inktober 2019, M/M, Punchlines and witty comebacks, Tasty, Teasing, Unreliable Narrator, Writober 2019, missing memories, of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-03 05:51:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21174476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saikowrites/pseuds/Aki_Saiko
Summary: Hangover can hit hard, or they can hit with subtlety. Akechi doesn't feel particularly sick, but he experiments some unexpected hangover outcome over a nice plate of hot curry with rice.Or, questionable life decisions deriving from questionable coping mechanism and how a talking cat can expose your knowledge of the Metaverse (again).Sequel toDizzy.WRITOBER 2019 | Day 25: Tasty | Based on the official Inktober 2019 prompt list.





	Tasty

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic is a direct sequel to [THIS ONE ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21165392), so please read that first for context!
> 
> Alternative title for this work: HEGEL PLS IM SORRY  
Seriously, why must Akechi be such a smartass. I had to revive my philophy notes and books from 4th year of high school and Hegel was even one of the philosphers I hated the most. Whatever. In the end tho I enjoyed writing this fic! Dizzy and Tasty weren't supposed to be connected, but they fitted very well together, so I changed plans.
> 
> Enjoy!

Warm noon sunlight of an autumn Sunday filters through Leblanc’s glass door and reflects on the half wooden, half tiled floor. Akechi shields his lateral vision with a hand and watches Kurusu emptying the groceries’ paper bag on the kitchen counter near the stove, the only noise source in the empty café. His temples pulse, his mind works to recollect every detail of the previous night but faces a thick haze of tiredness and alcohol-induced forgetfulness. His stomach twists, hungry for food yet fast at firing him hints of light nausea at the first thought of a proper meal.

Kurusu’s cat hops on the counter and gives him a look. He smiles back but doesn’t dare touch him.

“Are you sure is it ok if the cat stays here?”

“It is!” he says and Akechi focuses on Kurusu’s shoulders, pretends he’s not hearing the cat talking as if they were in the Metaverse.

“It is, I’ll clean up paws prints once we’re finished. I like having him around when I cook.”

“He sure meows a lot.”

“I don’t!”

“He does, he’s a loud cat. But he prevented us from getting busted, so.”

“You owe me sushi for that!”

Akechi can’t help a nervous chuckle. Discomfort and a hint of embarrassment build in his chest in recalling the previous night. The fogginess about what happened later on grates at his nerves and marks some annoying undefined spot in the big picture that forms in his mind, which is unable to discern what has been a dream and what was part of reality.

He waves a hand and carries on with the conversation.

“I think he might want some sort of compensation for the favor.”

The cat flaps his tail and stretches.

“You know, maybe Akechi isn’t _that bad_.”

The boy’s lips tense, he fights to mask a pleased smile. Kurusu’s back stiffs as well, as if he’s pretending not to listen to that voice. He grabs ingredients from the kitchen and the fridge and transfers them behind the bar’s counter, and repeats the operation with glass bowls, a cutting board and some big knives. He pulls one out of his wrapping and cuts chicken breasts in uneven cubes.

“How do you feel?”

“Fine, thank you. Hopefully real food will do well to my stomach.”

Kurusu lifts the cutting board so the cat can take a glimpse of fresh meat. He eyes it, but otherwise stays curled on the wooden surface.

“Can’t you make curry with tuna? I’d eat that.”

Kurusu’s lips tighten so much they turn white. He lowers his head even more and busies himself with cutting the vegetables. Akechi’s mouth curls in a diabolic smile. He taps fingertips on wood and wears flawless, innocent attitude.

“Don’t you sometimes wish you could understand what he’s saying?”

Kurusu stops his chopping with a start, but masks it by pushing the carrots aside to grab the onions.

“I think he’s already loud enough as he is.”

“I am not!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t speak that way about him, you know.”

“He’s right! I like him now. Do you think I can ask _him_ for sushi? He owes me a favor too.”

Kurusu’s face lets slip the glint of a laughter.

“I love Morgana, but he’s… particular about some things.”

He lifts the onions, too. Morgana sniffs them but turns his head away with a displeased twist of whiskers.

“Those stink a lot. And they make me cry. I don’t like them.”

“He doesn’t seem to appreciate onions. Why are you doing this?”

The boy frowns and moves on to the potatoes.

“He’s a very curious cat. He always stays with me, so I think he might be a little human as well.”

“But I am!”

“Yes, you are,” Kurusu murmurs in sweet tone and pokes at his nose. “And, at least you don’t discourse about Hegel while tipsy.”

“In my defense, your first coffee had a serious imbalance with whisky ratio. Besides, Hegel’s dialectics indeed has some thought-provoking structure.”

“The thesis – antithesis – synthesis thing? You mentioned it yesterday.”

Memories begin to shape clearer in his mind, bringing sounds, smells, tastes. Akechi squints his eyes, tries to focus moments he still can’t grasp.

“Yes. How familiar are you with philosophy, and Idealism in particular?”

Kurusu passes an apple to Morgana. The cat sniffs it and retreats.

“Too unripe. Boss said you shouldn’t use the sour ones.”

The second one is fine. The boy peels the skin away and chops it, drops the pieces in the bigger bowl with the other vegetables. He collects what he needs and heads to the stove.

“I found a book in Jinbocho, but I haven’t had enough time to read it, yet. Anyway, I think I can follow the thread, so please, go on.”

Akechi tugs at his leather gloves and clears his voice.

“I personally find Hegel’s Idealism fascinating and, in some of its aspects, still relevant today. As it is in its name, the core of his theories was the concept of idea. Which, by a process that’s typical of Hegel’s philosophy, was – let’s say – divided in three parts: the idea in itself, the idea outside of itself and the idea that goes back to itself. The first represents the idea as it is in the thinking process, the second represents the idea outside, in the physical world, and the last represents the idea that returns to itself from the nature, in man’s consciousness, and thus is the spirit.”

“Sounds rather complicated,” Akira’s voice comes from the kitchen, mixed with crackling oil and simmering vegetables. Morgana jumps down and trots to him, climbs on a safe spot and observes the process.

“Complicated, and useless,” the cat comments.

“It is pretty articulated, indeed, but that’s the beauty and benefit of philosophy: making one think deeper.”

Akechi crosses a leg and leans on the counter.

“Anyway. That structure is mirrored in how Hegel thought about the thesis, the antithesis and the synthesis. The first one is a statement, an affirmation. The second one is its negation. The third one is a speculative phase, the negation of the negation, which leads to a reinforcement of the original statement through the denial of the negation in the middle.”

“I swear I couldn’t understand a single word. Is this how Ryuji feels every time?”

A snort escapes from Akechi’s lips and he covers them, hopes that Kurusu won’t look. But a _clank_ echoes in the room and Kurusu shakes his hand in the air, as if some hot liquid singed it.

“The cat here is deeply perplexed with Hegel,” the boy downplays.

“And the barista?”

“The barista keeps up.”

Akechi shakes his head.

“Good. Now, the process I just described you is called _Aufhebung_. It’s the German word for ‘surpassing’, since the synthesis that is reached through this method is better of both the thesis and the antithesis, yet it preserves both some aspects of them and their inner conflict.”

Kurusu extracts two large plates from the credence and scoops some rice from the rice cooker. Akechi cranes his neck to have a better sight of him.

“Is it everything all right?”

“Yes – I’m almost done. Actually, I was thinking about what you said. Could you give me an example?”

Their conversation from the previous night makes way into his mind. It interlaces with their first meeting, with their discussions in Shibuya waiting for the subway, with the war they’re both fighting against society, but in exact opposite ways. He smiles, pleased.

“Let’s say I’m the thesis. Justice is dangerous in the hand of individuals; thus, it must be held by the laws of the State. This doesn’t mean the system doesn’t have flaws, obviously, but that same system grants the order in a society like ours. Therefore, people like the Phantom Thieves are dangerous to society, because they fight following their own set of rules and their own moral code.”

“Following on, you would be the antithesis. You side with the Phantom Thieves because you recognize society’s limits in handling with some criminals. You find traditional justice useless in certain situations; harmful, even. And thus, you would prefer to act according to what you believe is right.”

Kurusu fills the empty half of the plates with hot, steamy curry. He scrapes the last bit of sauce from the pot with a spoon and places it on a small portion of Morgana’s food. He puts the little bowl down on the floor and scratches the cat’s head between his ears. He lifts the plates and serves them on the counter, takes place on the stool near Akechi’s one.

He watches Akechi with expectation.

“So, what’s the synthesis?”

Akechi laughs and shakes his head.

“Unfortunately, I fear I have no answer to that. Had I met you earlier, maybe I would have been able to surpass our divergent opinions in a nice _Aufhebung_.”

He spoons his portion of curry with rice and tastes it. The texture is smooth and thick on his tongue, the chicken soft and juicy. The flavor is far milder than Sojiro’s one, resembles the mixtures studied for kids but adds the sweetness of the apple and a hint of honey.

“This is delicious, really. I don’t dare saying it’s better than Sojiro’s house coffee and curry match, but it’s a worthy opponent. Thank you, Kurusu, I really appreciate it.”

The other’s hand freezes in place and his knuckles go white. Deep grey eyes turn to look at him, slightly puzzled and… hurt?

Akechi blinks at that unsettling and unusual display of emotions.

“Had I said something wrong?”

Kurusu’s lips parts a little.

“You don’t remember.”

Blood runs cold in his veins and panic spreads in his heart. He seals everything inside him and smiles politely.

“I’m afraid I am truly missing something. In that case, I’m sorry. Have I been so inconsiderate?”

Akira shakes his head and eats a bite of his curry.

“No, I don’t think that term suits. You just… called me by my first name, among other things.”

“Oh. That’s… intimate. My apologies for disrespecting you, I didn’t intend it.”

“Don’t worry, it’s no big deal. All my friends use my first name, anyway.”

He adjusts his glasses and takes another bite.

“Besides, you were really cute.”

Akechi puts down his spoon in the plate and turns to face straight the other boy.

“Kurusu – _Akira_ – what do you mean exactly by ‘among other things’?”

Akira waves his hand.

“You know, accusing me of stealing hearts. And stuff.”

“What ‘stuff’?”

Akira smirks, and his attitude transforms in something Akechi has never seen on him before, smugger and more shameless.

“Thou almost grasped the _Aufhebung,_ yet thou lost sight of thine own steps. So now, two paths await thou: recollect thy memories on thine own or make me confess.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you grasped the hint about Akira cooking with Morgana then huge BRAVO!  
If you didn't, HURRY to Youtube and Earth's most wholesome and handsome man [Jun's kitchen](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRxAgfYexGLlu1WHGIMUDqw).
> 
> Previous work in the collection: Persona 5 - ShuAke - Dizzy /prequel to this one  
Next one in the collection will be: Bravely Second - Edea/Ringabel


End file.
